Share of voice explained, how to measure real SEO growth

Share of voice, often shortened to SOV, is one of the most reliable ways to measure SEO growth. Not because it sounds impressive, but because it goes beyond individual keyword rankings. Instead of celebrating a few isolated wins, you measure how much overall visibility your website captures across an entire set of tracked search terms. That gives you a clearer view of whether you’re actually gaining market share, or simply moving around on a handful of keywords.

Share of Voice reflects your potential

In simple terms, Share of Voice reflects your share of potential clicks and attention within a topic. When your pages move from positions 8 to 3 across multiple keywords, your overall visibility grows, even if a few individual rankings fluctuate. This is exactly why SOV is so valuable for reporting, it provides a stable, strategic view rather than a collection of isolated data points. If you want to see how this works inside Rank Monitor, explore the feature page here, Share of Voice.

What SOV captures that rankings often miss

Rankings alone don’t tell the full story. You can rank for hundreds of keywords and still struggle to drive meaningful traffic if you’re not consistently visible on the results page. SOV helps you connect rankings to impact, because it highlights where your site is truly present, not just technically “ranking.”

Key reasons to track Share of Voice include,

A single number to represent SEO visibility, across your entire keyword set
A stronger foundation for reporting, especially when comparing periods or competitors
Better prioritization, because it reveals which topics need improvement first
A clearer view of competitive shifts, when another site begins to dominate a theme

How to improve SOV inside Rank Monitor

Once you track SOV, your next step is to turn visibility data into action. Your fastest growth typically comes from keywords where you’re already close, positions 4 to 10 are often the easiest wins, because small improvements can push you into the most-clicked spots.

High-impact actions that tend to lift SOV include,

Expanding content depth, by covering missing subtopics and questions
Improving internal linking, so Google understands page importance and topical structure
Optimizing SERP elements, such as titles, meta descriptions, and clear headings
Refreshing pages that are slipping, before competitors take more share